Wednesday, September 25, 2013

I submitted a My Turn article to the Coeur d'Alene Press yesterday in response to Tony Stewart's article in the paper last week. My article was published today and is available online here. It is imperative both for the good of our city and the preservation of our integrity, to speak clearly and frankly about the issue of homosexuality and the attempt by the LGBT community to co-opt the language of human rights to sanction their perversion.If you think that my questions about pedophilia, incest, bestiality, etc. are unnecessary, then please consult the excellent article in The New American by Selwyn Duke. It is entitled, "The Slippery Slope to Pedophilia." He hits the nail on the head. May God have mercy upon our nation and turn us from our folly and from the trajectory on which we are currently headed. I tried to outline that trajectory in my sermon last Sunday entitled, "Saving the World from Suicide." It should be up on the website soon.For those who prefer, my article is printed below.______________

During this local political season, it is important that our
communication with one another be characterized by a firm allegiance to
honesty, integrity, and truth. As a local pastor, I decry sins of the tongue –
slander, gossip, lies, outbursts of wrath, false accusations – all dishonor our
Creator and defame others who are made in the image of God. It is my desire to
speak the truth in love.

To that end I wish to address the misleading way in which
the agenda of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community
has been linked by some, including Mayoral candidate Steve Widmeyer and homosexual
activist Tony Stewart, to the idea of human rights. We need to preserve the
“human rights” of those in the LGBT community and not discriminate against
them.

It is important that members of our community understand
that this linking of the ordinance with human rights is false and destructive.
First, it is false. The ordinance is not about the preservation of human rights
but about the public sanctioning of immoral and destructive sexual behaviors. Our
forefathers never taught that “human rights” include the “right” to do what is
wrong. And this ordinance is not about the preservation of human rights but
human wrongs. It is the equivalent of passing a law forbidding discrimination
against thieves and adulterers – granting public protections to those who
engage in particular immoral actions.

Second, it is destructive. It leaves human rights in the
hands of human beings. The founders of our great nation were careful to
maintain that our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were
given to us by the Creator, not by any human agency, whether a vote of the
people or a decision of the king. Governments are created to protect and
preserve these rights; but the rights exist independent of any government. On
this matter, Mr. Stewart is exactly right: every decision of the majority is
subject to the moral law.

So where do we find the moral law? Clearly Mr. Stewart believes
in it; he appeals to our “moral compass” to oppose discrimination against those
in the LGBT community. So how does he identify what is moral or immoral? Shall
we soon find him defending the “right” of citizens to practice polygamy,
bestiality, incest, or pedophilia? Perhaps murder, rape, thievery? No doubt he
opposes such things. But on what basis? Public opinion? Then he undermines his
claim that these things exist independent of government decisions and leaves us
in the hands of the people. The Creator? Then he needs to explain how we
understand and know the mind of the Creator. And if we can only know the mind
of God through individual human opinion then we’re back to our first dilemma –
we have to take a vote. Vox populi, vox
dei: the voice of the people is the voice of God. And in that case whatever the people decide becomes “moral” – it
becomes two wolves and a sheep trying to decide what to eat. It leaves us in
the hands of the people.

Christianity resolves this dilemma by appealing to an
objective moral standard that stands over and above every human society –
Christian or non-Christian. We know what is good and right and honorable
through the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Here God has revealed the
moral law – it is summarized in the Ten Commandments and lived out in the life
of Jesus Christ. And this law clearly identifies the LGBT lifestyles as
perverse and destructive both individually and societally. This law leaves us
not in the hands of human beings but in the hands of God. As historian Arnold
J. Toynbee remarked, “Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he
worships his own power or the power of God.” There is no third option.

Contrary to Mr. Stewart’s claim, love and discrimination always
go hand in hand. It is the father who loves his daughter who teaches her to
discriminate among suitors. It is the mother who loves her son who teaches him
to discriminate and choose his friends carefully. It is Jesus who loves the
poor who discriminated against the moneychangers and overthrew their tables
(see Matthew 21:12-17).

And so I would urge the citizens of our community to use
proper discrimination as you approach the polls. Always defend human rights
while ardently opposing human wrongs. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin
is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

1 comments:

I just read your article in the paper and had to find a way to contact you. I am not a member of your church, but if I were looking for one, yours would be high on my list. Your article was excellent as it is based solely on scripture. I commend you and pray God's blessing on your ministry.